Fire-extinguishing solution



of sodiu'ni bicarbonate and aluminium -'sulphate as usedin the foam typeof fire ex'-,

45 and be dissolved or held in homogeneous To all whom it may concea-n:-

manna: STATE amat meg. I

LUIS E. EGKLELMANN, onnnw YORK, N11,; assiemoa ro-rmmm' nannrac'rumneCOMPANY, a CORPORATION-E nnnawaan- 4 nxnn-nx'rmeursn meso u'rroN.

Ho Drawing.

-Be it known that I, LUIS EOKELMANN, a citizen of the United States, andresident of the city, county, and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Extinguishing Solutions,of'which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the production of a new and efficient. fireextinguishing agent, being primarily a mixture of one or morepolychlorinated hydrocarbons in a form which enables the same to bereadily and uniformly mixed or occluded with foam.

This-foam is in itself the product of the reaction of two watersolutions of chemicals. and is effective to a certain extent as a fireextinguishing agent for use with certain v fires. The object of thisinvention is to in; crease the-efliciency of the foamand to pro duce afire extinguishing agent which will be effective in extinguishing anyfire, par.-

' ticularly fires which can not be extinguished by a foam or gas-alone.

The. invention cons ts in the novel fire extinguishing mixture-or agentand steps for producing the same, constituting the. process of combiningthe polychlorinated hydro-.- carbon mixturewith the foam generatingchemicals, obtainin a. foam containing the polychlorinated hy rocarbonmixture-homogeneously distributed through it at the time ,of itsgeneration and projection upon the fire. The invention also, consists,inpart,

of'the introduction of a mixture of one or' more fire extinguishingpolychlorinated hydrocarbons intov a solution of water soluble chemicalsused to-produce foam.

Owing to the fact that the mixeiietb f' polychlorinated hydrocarbonsusedis insoluble injwater, and also in water solutions tinguisher, it-is evident that the polychlo rinated hydrocarbon mixture could not beaiiddistri introduced into either of the two solutions suspension, butwould separate-out into dis tinct layers or portions ofthe watersolution ture. 'This condition would impair the suc- .cessful action ofthe-extinguisher in so far as the polychlorinated' hydrocarboncontentution of same in :the foam, was;

Specification ofgLetters Iiatiint. v

reacting solutions and be expelled through the. nozzle 1n thequantities. or manner requlred to act efliciently in extinguishing thefire. Furthermore, itwas found that ,a satisfactory'mixture of thepolychlorinated PatentedJuly4,1i922 Application filed October 23, 1919.Serial at; 332,802.

'60 hydrocarbon and the aluminum sulphate '9 polychlorinted hydrocarbonmixv li uids mutually insoluble can be mixed, and

wil continue 'lmore or less so; ,if the two components be ofthe sainedensity and specific gravity. The difliculty' 'of obtain- I ing a stablemixture of the polyjchlorinated' hydrocarbon mixture and theconcentrated solution of the aluminium sulphate is due lution-can not bebrought up to a sufiiciently "to 'the fact thatthealuminium'sulphatesohigh specificgfavit to -beiequalto that of the,polychlorinate hydrocarbon mixture and-still remain in solution. p "c-With the above difficulty to overcome in View, I first produce thepolychlorinated hydrocarbon mixture in an emulsified form. 11- have.found that if thepolychlorinated hydrocarbon mixture is emulsified, bymixture and agitation with solutions of saponin, gum arabic, soaps,etc., it is then possible to mix this emulsion and a water solutioncontaining aluminium sulphate without. enough separation occuringj torender the action of the foam generating chemicals complete,.. in so"far'as the occlusion or re tention of the emulsion throughoutthe foam I.is concerned-. I I f Anther important point to be notedisthe j factthat an emulsion made from carbon tetrachloride alone will not besuitable for combination with the aluminium sulphate, a

solution used in the" foam exti fisher; Emulsions made fromcarbonftetrac loride alone separate out more easilyand are not heldinthe water*"solution of aluminium sulphate quite. as well thosem'ade frommixtures of carbon tetrachloride with other non-inflammablepolychlorinated hydrocanbons I of lower specific gravity; -.Qonse-*uent1y,'theemu'1sion used in producing the re extin ishing agentwillpreferablybe.J

compoun ad from mixtu 'ies 10f carbontetra-fit so I concerned, asv thepolychlorinated;hydro- 55' carbon being so held could not mixwith thephloridewith other polychlorinated; hydro carbons or substances to givethe most satisfactory results, which constitutes another importantfeature of the invention.

In carrying out my invention 1 proceed as follows I charge theextinguisher, which may be of ,the'type ordinarily used for producingfoam alone, containing two compartments chemicals and not depart fromthe spirit of of difi'erent size, with the two foam generatingsolutions, which may be composed of .-sodium bicarbonate and aluminiumsulphate or any suitable solutions for this purpose. It is preferable tocharge the larger compartment of-the extinguisher with the solutionofsodium bicarbonate. The sulphate solution, concentrated to a densityas near equal to that of the emulsion as possible, is mixed with theemulsion, preferably in the proportion of three parts of emulsion to twoparts ofaluminium sulphate solution and At this point, mention must bemade of the.

fact that I have found Loan also mix the emulsion with powderedaluminium' sulphate, powdered bicarbonate, or any other of theconstituents of the foam generating the invention. r

Upon discharging the extinguisher in the usual manner, by reversingtheposition of the same and causing the contents of the two compartments tomix, the aluminium sulphate and sodium bicarbonate solutions will react,producing 'a foam whicl 1 will carry the emulsion equally and homogene:

.ouslysdistributed through it at all times during the period ofdischarge. The foam 'will be expelled through the nozzle of theextinguisher in the usual manner on the fire,

. foam and smothering the flames.

covering same with a heavy blanket of This smothering action of foamalone is not sufiicient to effectively extinguish all fires, however,and the new combination and invention herein described will not onlyretain the sm0thel'ing function of the foam, but,

in addition, will carry a 'polychlorinated hydrocarbon base,- theextinguis efliclency'of which is-well recognized. -Should the foamblanket be dried and consequently ruptured by the heat of the fire,which is very liable to occur in hot fires, such asoil- "tank fires,:etc., thereby exposing portions of the burning liquid to the air andpermitting'or increasing further combustion, the polychlorinatedhydrocarbon mixture held in the emulsion and now evenly through the foamblanket will be vaporized,

forming a heavy, non-combustion=supportbyfthe foam. LThe production'olf1a fire medium possessing t e addedadvantage 0 illlid with a carbontetrachlo gas blanket which will eficctivelyv extingmsh any portions ofthe fire unacted upon ut into the inner compartment.

- to the big that of the emulsion. I "constituents in this manner thetendency ride base and foam would naturally be an advantage in thisfield and give a product of increased etficienc'y. r

In order to obtain a mixture of this sort certain diiiiculties had to beovercome as the tetrachloride base mixture had to be put in' such form.as to render it readily miscible 'with the foam generating chemicalswhich next step wa's'to find some methodor means "by which thetetrachloride base mixture could be put-into such formas to render itmiscible .with" water solutions, bearing in mind that oil (insoluble inwater) can be made to mix with same if made into an emulsion. The samewas tried using the tetrachloride'base mixture in place of the oil.

In order-to produce a stable emulsion of carbon-tetrachloride diflerentemulsifying agents, such as saponin, gumarabic, soap, etc., were used.It was then found that with tetrachloride alone the production of anemulsion was not very easy, also that it had a tendency to separate outinto its components on standin this being doubtless due ride (1.6 todecreasethe specific gravity of the tetra chloride base mixture, bynon-inflammable polychlorinated hydrocarbons of lesser densities.-Emulsions made with these mixtures are very permanent, notseparating-outeasily. It was foundt-hat the addition of lightoils inamounts of one to three per cent, further improved the permanency andfluidity' of the emulsion.

After obtainin be keptindefinite y without separation, containing carbontetrachloride and other polychlorinated hydrocarbons, tests were made todetermine the best method of combining this emulsion with the foamgenerating soe lutions for use in the standard type of extedhydrocarbons was mixed-with a solution containing aluminium sulphatewhich could be concentrated to a- 'density approaching to separate wasretarded, to a great degree. It must be noted that even though theemulsgeciiic gravity of the tetrachlo-' I .onsequently, the next'stepwas v an emulsion which could adding various .tinguisher. The emulsionof polychlorina- By mlxlng the two mamas sion will settle to the, bottomof the containerholding the mixture, the separation in this case is notdistinct and sharp as when alumi- I nium sulphate solution' andtetrachloride aremixed but can be considered as an agglomeration of theemulsified particles in the sulphate solution itself. Practically any vpel'ling the same through the nozzle. The

ted through it.

0am will carry with it the tetrachloride mixture emulsion homogeneouslydistribu- The quantity of emulsion in the foam will be proportionallyequivalent to the amount originally added.

When the tetrachloride mixture foam is projected upon a fire, a foamblanket will be formed. The heat of the fire which mightdry portions ofthis blanket and rupture same, will expose the burning liquid to the airand renew combustion (this will be the case in extinguishing an oil firein a tank or vat, where the entire surface is burning). At this pointthe tetrachloride solution 'already in the foam, vaporized by the heatof the fire, will form a as blanket over the uncovered portions, eectively extinguishin the fire.

hat I claim is v 1. A fire extinguishing mixture comprising thecombination of a non-aqueous fire extinguishing liquid with aningredient adapted to increase the surface tension of the liquid-andconstituents adapted to generate a tenacious fire extinguishing foam.

2. A fire extinguishing mixture comprising the combination of anon-aqueous fire extinguishing liquid {with an ingredient.

adapted to increase the surface tension of the liquid 'and a, reactingsalt solution adapted to generate a tenacious foam.

3. A fire extinguishing mixture comprising the; combination of anon-aqueous fire v I v r tinguishlng'agent-whlch'comprises generat- 115extinguishing liquid with a sodlum bica bonate solution adaptedtogenerate a ten cious foam. 4. A fire extinguishing mixture comprisingthe combination'of a non-aquepus fire extinguishing. liquid with asodium bicarbonate and aluminium sulphate solution adapted to generate atenacious foam.

5. A fire extinguishing mixture compris ing the combination of a' non-aqueous' fire ing the extinguisher in the generate a tire extinguishingcarbons. of less specific with a concentrated so1ut 1on;; of-aluminiumphate adapted to generate a fire extinguish- 7 ing foam.

9. A firerextinguishing mixture comprising the combination of anemulsion of a po-lychlorinated hydrocarbon with constituents adapted togenerate a fire extinguish- 80. ing foam. v

10. A fire extinguishing agent comprising a mixture of -an emulsion ofcarbontetrachloride and another polychlorinated hydrocarbon with aconstituent adapted to foam. 1].. A fire extinguishing agent comprisinga mixture of an emulsion of -c'arbon 'tetra-. chloride and anotherpolychlorinated hydrocarbon with a concentrated solution of aluminiumsulphate adapted to generate a fire extinguishingfoam. v a 12. A fireextinguishing agent comprising a mixture of an emulsionv ofearbontetrachloride and another polychlorinated -hydrocarbon andoil-with a reacting salt'sclution adapted to generate a fire'extinguishing foam. g

13. A fire extinguishing agent comprising a mixture of an emulsionofcarbon tetra; chloride with other polychlorinated hudro "avity andoils,

sulphate adapted to generateja' fire extin- 1shingfoam. '105 14.. Theprocess of roducing-a fire 'extinguishing mixture ich comprises gen-'2;erating a tenacious "foam mixed with a nonaqueous fire extinguishingliquid;

15. The process of producing a; fire ex} 11o tinguishing agent *whichcomprlsesgenerating a tenacious z-foam mixed with a polyj f chlorinatedhydrocarbon. r 16. The process of producing a fire exingaf oam mixedwith carbon tetrachloride and aanother polychlorinated' hydrocarbon.

17."The1.process ofiprcducing a-fire ex tinguishing mixture whichcomprises pro-' ducing an emulsion of a polychlorinated 0 hydrocarbon,generating a fire extinguishing foam in contact with said emulsion.

18. The process of producing a fire" ex tinguishing agent whichcomprises in producing' an emulsionaof carbon tetrachloride and anotherpolychlorinated hydrocarbon, generating a fire extinguishing foam incontact with said emulsion.-

19. The process of roducing a fire extinguishing' agent which consistsin prosulphate, in contact with said emulsion.

21. A fire extinguishing agent comprising two constituents producing afoam in reaction, and a polychlorlnated hydrocarbon ,mixture havingsubstantially the same spe: cific gravity as one of said foam producingconstituents and mixed therewith.

22. The process of producing a fire ex tinguishing agent which consistsin forming anemulsion of polychlorinated hydrocarbonshavingsubstantially the same specific gravity as one of'two foamproducing constituents, mixing said foam producing constituent andemulsion,' and producing a foam carrying said emulsion by the reactionofsaid last named mixture and a second foam producing constituent.

23. The process of roducihg a fire extinguishing agent Whic consists informing a mixtureof carbon tetrachloride and other ijolychlorinatedhydrocarbons of less spe-v New York,

cific gravity to form a mixture having substantially the same specificavity as one of two foam producing constituents, forming an emulsion ofsaid mixture, mixing said foam producing constituent and emulsion,.

and producing a foam carrying said emulsion by the reaction of said lastnamed mixture and a second foam producing constituent. V

24.. A fire extinguishing agent containing a mixture of polychlorinatedhydrocarbons of difl'erent specific gravities, and foam producingingredients; 7 25; A fire extinguishing agent containing a mixture of anemulsion of polychlorinated hydrocarbons of different specificgravities,

and foam producing ingredients. 26. A fire extinguishing agentcontaining a mixture of ,a saturated p'olychlorinated hydrocarbon andingredients adapted. to produce a tenaciousfoam.

.27. Afire extinguishing agent containing a mixture of a plurality o-fdifferent polychlorinated hydrocarbons and ingredients adapted toproduce a tenacious foam.

Signed at thecity,

this 8 day of Oct. 1919.

Luis E. EOKELMANN.

county and State of.

